Tesla Paint Quality?

[AC6B]

Do Tesla cars have "softer" paint than Japanese or other cars?

I have seen many posts saying that Tesla cars need ceramic coating, wraps or other forms of paint protection. Teslas should only be hand washed using a "two bucket" or waterless methods. Never wash a Tesla in an automated car wash with brushes. The car will get swirl marks. Even if you can't see them, those swirl marks are there.

The general theory seems to be that Tesla have softer paints due to California regulations.

What are the facts? Do Tesla really need special paint care? If so, why?

 

[Tam]

...softer paints...

I've owned 3 Teslas (S,X,3) so far and I've been washing them once a month at home as I did with my previous Ford Escort then Prius with nothing special:

1) I would not be abrasive or rough on it: That means I should use touchless automatic car washes and not those with brushes.

2) swirl marks happen with all cars if not done properly.

I traded in my 2012 Model S with 100,000 miles on it this year for Model 3 and it still looked extremely shiny and brand new.

For comparison, my previous Ford Escort and Prius didn't look as shiny and they looked old after 6 years.

 

[StealthP3D]

Do Tesla cars have "softer" paint than Japanese or other cars?

I have seen many posts saying that Tesla cars need ceramic coating, wraps or other forms of paint protection. Teslas should only be hand washed using a "two bucket" or waterless methods. Never wash a Tesla in an automated car wash with brushes. The car will get swirl marks. Even if you can't see them, those swirl marks are there.

The general theory seems to be that Tesla have softer paints due to California regulations.

What are the facts? Do Tesla really need special paint care? If so, why?

I'm pretty sure there are no special regulations in California that prevent the use of the same kind of water based polyurethanes used by all modern car manufacturers. Not only are modern paints more durable and more colorfast than previous paints, they also have lower VOC's and thus more environmentally friendly.

Ceramic coatings and PPF wraps really ARE more popular on Tesla's than other makes but that is just because Tesla owners love their cars more and want to keep them looking their best as long as possible.

And, if you think about it, it kind of makes more sense to spend a bit more upfront to protect a car with a million plus mile powertrain than it does a Toyota, Honda or even a Lexus or BWM. That said, I just wax our two Model 3's about once every two or three months and call it good. While I do plan on keeping them a long time, I figure the money saved by not buying PPF or ceramic coat will be invested in the market and will likely grow to many times what a new high-quality paint job would cost if I so desired in 10-20 years. And if the car is crashed or totaled in a flood or storm, forest fire, etc, I will still have that money in my brokerage account to with as I please.

I love our Model 3's and can understand why someone might go to great lengths to protect theirs but, no, it's no more necessary than with any other make/model in terms of paint durability.

 

[Magellan55]

Depends who you ask I guess. When I first picked my car up the detailer that works at the SC told me to get it protected because the paint is soft (no he does not offer ceramic/ppl nor did he recommend someone to do it). Everyone uses water-based for the pigment layer but as he understood it everyone else uses solvent-based for the clearcoat but Tesla can't due to CA environmental regs. Teslatap has an article that says something different. Who knows.

All I know is my paint does seem softer than my other cars, and the last time I was in the SC they ran it through their washer and the resulting scratches were so bad all over my hood they had to buff it all out. That's the last time I ever have it machine washed (my Lexus has been through the machine at the dealer several times a year for almost a decade with no scratches). I'm now thinking of at least ceramic coating.